MAFIA POSSESSION ( Completed)

SOFIA'S FATE

Once we finished and were ready to head downstairs she spoke up finally, "Your style has significantly improved."

"Thanks," I said dryly.

She sighed. "How long are we going to keep doing this, Bella?"

"Till you tell me what the fuck is going on. You forget that this is me," I lifted my finger to my chest to make a point. "I know there's something you're not telling me."

She looked away from me and it only confirmed my words to be true. She sat down on the bed tentatively and the shadow from the sun straying through the window caught her side. Sophia took in a deep breath like she was bracing herself.

But long moments passed and she never spoke.

"Who are you?" Feeling a twinge of anger rise within me, I continued, "I'm seeing you, but it's almost as though my eyes are deceiving. You're not the Sophia I know." I took a couple of steps towards her. "Sophia, my cousin and best friend, doesn't keep secrets from me. She doesn't let things get in the way of our friendship-"

"This isn't the same, Bella." She cut me off. She was so guarded.

"Well I don't understand, make me understand." I pleaded. Because I needed her back- we needed each other.

"If I tell you, your father would kill me." Her tone was dejected but she was being serious. I could see the fear written all over her face. She truly meant the words.

"There's a ton of things that I keep from my father. Why would I not keep your secret? Besides, my father adores you, he'd never actually hurt you. "

"I don't want to put this on you. You have your own problems."

"This is my problem, Sophia. We're family, cousins- fucking sisters." Might as well be, we shared the same blood anyway. Nothing she told me would ever make me stop loving her like a sister.

"I know, but your father made it clear that you weren't to know. Armando made it clear that you weren't to know. My fucking mom made it clear that you weren't to know." Sophia wanted to cry now. Her voice broke as she spoke.

Closing the distance between us my arms reached around her and hugged her tightly to my chest. Why did our parents always have to fuck shit up in our lives? Wasn't it enough that they made all decisions for us? Now they had to demand we keep secrets from each other too?

"Since when do we follow the rules?" I teased, trying to lighten the mood.

She shook her head in my chest. "You don't understand. This isn't just about us. This is Familia business." Now it was getting interesting. Familia business that was so secret they had to go as far as to prohibit Sophia from telling me? And if that was the case, why would they even tell Sophia about it. Wouldn't it be easier to just keep us both in the dark? It'd sure be less problematic.

"I'm a part of the Familia too. Whatever it is you can trust me."

"Yes, but you're going to marry a Romero," She whispered. Then she forced herself out of my embrace to look at me, like that last part had slipped out accidently.

The dots suddenly connected and it was like a slap to my face. "So they're afraid that I'm going to tell Anthony something that would harm my family?" I was offended. "I'm not disloyal." The very notion made me sick. They were the ones that were selling me to a Romero, it wasn't even my choice.

"We know you're not, Bella. But if he finds out it could cause major problems." Her face spoke volumes of her inner battles.

She was definitely losing.

"Just tell me," My voice was harsh, demanding.

"Fine.... I'm in the same shit-hole as you are," She laughed out mockingly. "My fate is the same as yours."

"What are you talking about? Stop talking in riddles." Who had time to read between the lines?

"My mother...uncle Viktor...They're forcing me to marry someone too, Bella." A tear slowly slid down her cheek.

I inhaled sharply. "Why would this matter to Anthony?" It was obvious why she was in distress. But what was so bad about it that she'd been ordered not to tell me?

"Goddamn, promise me you won't say a word to your fiancée?" She pleaded.

"It's not like we're even on friendly terms, Sophia. I see him once a year because my father forces me to see him. Are you fucking kidding me right now? " My patience was quickly fleeting.

"I'm promised to Semion Janiev. It's terrifying, Bella. We're supposed to marry this summer, in private." She buried her face into both of her hands and began to sob, effectively ruining her makeup.

"Oh my god," I whispered. This went beyond every possible explanation my mind had conjured. "Has my father gone completely mad?"

The Romero's and the Janiev were mortal enemies. Yes, my family had bad-blood with the Romero's but that was mostly because they constantly bumped heads. They were Alpha Dog's that didn't know how to put aside their own pride.

The problems my family had with the Romero's were nothing compared to the feud between them and the Janiev- the Russian Mob.

This wasn't making any sense at all.

Sophia cried into her hands helplessly and she reminded me of myself when I'd first learned the news of my own engagement. She was terrified. And I was mortified.

"Sophia, why would my father do this? He worked so hard on the alliance with the Romero's. The moment Anthony knows that we're in business with the Russians..." I trialed off, unable to finish the sentence.

It would be a direct blow to his family's pride. He wouldn't care about the contract...he wouldn't care about me. It would all be over and he would call the wedding off. Not only that, but he would declare war on New-York. A lot of people would die.

The Russians were responsible for the death of Anthony's little brother. The Romero's were responsible for the death of Janiev's youngest daughter. It went back and forth, one family killed, the other took revenge. Everyone knew this- it was fucking MOB 101. Let bad blood settle. Blood must have Blood.

My father knew this.

"I don't know what they're getting at, Bella. My mother fed me some bullshit speech about trying to mend peace between our families-"

"That's the same bullshit speech my father fed me when he told me I had to marry Anthony," I cut in. Did Viktor even mean it? What was he playing at? And why was he putting our lives on the line for it?

"Why are you getting married in the summer? That's not even a year! I got 5 years- this is unfair." At least Viktor had given me time to prepare.

"Because I'm already 20 years old and Semion is 30. Apparently he's ready to marry...this is all just a big nightmare." She breathed. "I never thought I'd wish for 4 dates like you. I don't know anything about him other than he knows how to use a knife. Max said he'd never been defeated in a knife fight." She sniffled. "I've read about his family business on the internet Bella, but he's a very private man. There's nothing on there to indicate what he's like."

"I'm so sorry, Sophie." That's all I could really say, because we both didn't have the power to change our situations. From the moment we had been born into the Cosa Nostra, fate had laughed in our face. We were going to be dragged down to hell and only heaven knew if we'd make it out alive.